The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • A7

TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2015 NEWS THE BALTIMORE SUN 7 There's no way to close your eyes to this Citizen-captured videos create a new reality for city police and for the skeptics among us nnocent people don't run from cops" a follower posted on my Facebook page, a comment on the circumstances that ultimately led to the death of Freddie Gray. To which I respond: "Easy for a white man to say." Any white American who has not had eyes opened by the citizen-captured videos of Gray's arrest in West Baltimore or the killing of Until recendy, I might have agreed with him Now I can just as easily think this: Maybe Freddie Gray had reason to fear the police. Maybe his last encounter with them didn't go well. Maybe he thought he could outrun them and avoid a confrontation on a pleasant Sunday morning in spring. Of course, that's speculation on my part But there's a lot of that Dan Rodricks think the mayor and police commissioner would want to get answers a lot faster than at the present pace.

And if they have answers, you'd think they would share them with an angry public. Given the atmosphere in the nation with distrust of police forged in Ferguson and other places where encounters have led to the deaths of unarmed citizens you'd think we'd have more information by now. Obviously, it is prudent for the police to conduct a thorough investigation. Transparency is good. But some situations call for transparency a whole lot faster than we've seen here.

A delay of this length fosters more distrust not only among the immediate family of the deceased, but among those of us who have had our eyes opened by these disturbing cellphone videos. In the Gray case, it's hard to believe that it takes more than a week to come up with some straightforward answers: Why did police stop him? What explains his apparently painful condition, as seen in the citizen-captured video of his arrest, when he was led to a police wagon? (Some might say he was carried, others that he was dragged.) And what happened to Gray during his transport in the police wagon? Police have provided a timeline of events, but not much else. The fact that officers found Gray with a knife was not volunteered during the last week; the reference was found in a District Court document The document says Gray was arrested "without force or incident," but the citizen video challenges that assertion as well as the mayor's claim that what happened to Gray occurred inside the police wagon and not on the street. A few years ago, I might have suggested that we all just be quiet and patiently wait for the investigation to be completed. But the Freddie Gray video, and others like it, announce the new reality for police departments, for all of us: Eyes are everywhere; citizens are watching and recording, and their videos travel fast.

Social and mainstream news media quickly push these stories in front of our eyes, as never before, and a plodding pace of explanation doesn't work. It compounds distrust. People see a disturbing image, and they want to know what it means. As earnest as the mayor and police commissioner might seem, this week of mystery about Gray's arrest did nothing to restore public confidence in the Police Department's ability to police itself. And it makes you wonder what might have happened in the old days, before the prevalence of video cameras.

drodricksbaltsun.com Dan Rodricks' column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday, he also hosts "Midday" on WYPR-FM. Walter Scott in South Carolina or the chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York must live in the nation's 51st state the state of denial. For decades, verbal or written complaints by African-American men about police harassment might have gone in one white ear and out the other. But there's no way videos can be dismissed. In the digital age, they have the raw force of now, the power to make the most skeptical old cynic agree that something is deeply wrong.

I didn't know Gray. I don't know the cops who were involved in stopping and arresting him. I know that he was black, and that historically, 25-year-old black men in Baltimore have far more contacts with police than 25 -year-old white men. According to a court document, Gray "fled unprovoked upon noticing police presence." And that was enough for the Facebook poster to presume guilt. going around, and for good reason.

Until Monday, we had little information about what happened during Gray's encounter with police in West Baltimore on April 12. Thanks to a court document obtained by Baltimore Sun reporters Justin Fenton and Jessica Anderson, we have the first bit of light about why police arrested Freddie Gray. It took more than a week. But while charging documents mention that Gray was carrying a switchblade-like knife, we have nothing more on why he came to the attention of police to begin with, and we still know precious little about how he received the severe injuries that contributed to his death. Given that Gray's arrest was videotaped by an onlooker, and given the present atmosphere in Baltimore with a Justice Department inquiry into police misconduct opening deep and festering wounds you'd Freddie Gray arrest timeline Freddie Gray, 25, died on Sunday a week after he was injured while in Baltimore police custody.

Here is the timeline of events on April 12 that led up to his arrest and eventual transfer to Shock Trauma. W. North Ave. 'Very tense time for Baltimore City' Presbury St. Baker St.

LLOYD FOXBALTIMORE SUN Travis Robertson of Baltimore exchanges a few words with Lt. Col. Melvin Russell outside the Western District station Monday during a demonstration protesting the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody. Rjggs Ave. Mosher St.

8:39 A.M. Four officers on bicycles attempted to stop Gray and another man who ran after seeing police at West North Avenue and North Mount Street. "A lieutenant began pursuing Mr. Gray after making eye contact with two individuals, one of which is Mr. Gray," Deputy Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez said.

8:40 A.M. Police caught and arrested Gray in the 1700 block of Presbury St. Police said Gray stopped voluntarily and they did not use any force. An officer took out his Taser but did not use it, police said. "That has been verified by downloading the information on the Taser and also by the physical evidence on Mr.

Gray's body," Rodriguez said. 8:42 A.M. Officers requested a van to take Gray to the police station. At that point, he asked for an inhaler, police said. DEATH, From page 1 the latest city where police are accused of using deadly force on a black man without justification.

"We are a community that's on the edge right now," Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts said at a news conference. "Our voices need to be heard, the community's voices need to be heard and, the most important part is that we need to listen. "We too are part of this community and we hear I hear the outrage. I hear the concern, and I also hear the fear." Police pledged reforms including requesting medical help as soon as prisoners need it, and they said all transport officers would be retrained to ensure they know first aid and proper procedures.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake implored the city to stay peaceful, saying that she understood "our community is experiencing a great deal of trauma." Nearly seven months ago, the mayor invited the Department of Justice to review allegations of police brutality and other misconduct That review following a Baltimore Sun investigation into millions of dollars of legal settlements related to those allegations is under way. After Gray's death, some lawmakers and community leaders called for the Justice review to be expanded to a civil rights investigation. "This is a very, very tense time for Baltimore City, and I understand the community frustration," Rawlings-Blake said. "I understand because I'm frustrated. I'm angry that we're here again.

That we have had to tell another mother that their child is dead. I'm frustrated that not only that we're here but we don't have all the answers." William Stewart, who said he was a close friend of Gray's, was one of about 40 protesting outside City Hall and Baltimore police headquarters Monday morning using chants such as "Indict, convict, send those killer cops to jail." "That's like a father killing their son," Stewart said, characterizing how residents felt about Gray's death. "They're supposed to protect us." The demonstration included tense face-offs between activists, police and even a lone counter-demonstrator. Later in the day, a police commander was surrounded by angry residents as he tried to express sympathy to residents at the public housing complex where Gray was arrested. On April 12, officers on bicycles made eye contact with Gray, 25, and another man, at Gilmor Homes, a three- and four-story red brick complex of apartments in West Baltimore.

The complex, police said, has been a "hot spot" of crime and it was under increased surveillance, police said. Both men ran, and police took Gray to the ground. A charging document in Gray's case filed in District Court said he was detained because "he fled unprovoked upon noticing police presence." The police report said he was arrested "without force or incident." Officers found a "switchblade knife" clipped to the inside of his front pants pocket and arrested him. Knives with blades that spring open are illegal, according to city code. Officers said in the report that they arrested Gray "without force or incident" Baltimore police Deputy Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez said an officer drew his Taser but did not use it, according to the weapon and autopsy.

The full autopsy wasn't released. 8:46 A.M. Driver of the transport van believed that Gray was acting As Gray was loaded into a transport wagon, Rodriguez said, he asked for an inhaler, but police did not have one. Nor did they call for paramedics. Gray began acting "irate" in the back of the van, Rodriguez said.

It stopped about seven minutes after it left the scene of Gray's arrest so officers could fill out paperwork and put leg irons on him to better restrain him, Rodriguez said. At Druid Hill Avenue and Dolphin Street, the van picked up another prisoner, at which time Gray again spoke to officers. "And again, we need to asses Mr. Gray's condition, how we responded, were we able to act accordingly," Rodriguez said. The van drove to the Western District police station with both suspects, and at 9:24 am.

about a half hour after the trip began a medic was called after Gray was found unresponsive. "During transport to Western District via wagon transport the defendant suffered a medical emergency and was immediately transported to Shock Trauma via medic," the police report said. Gilmor Homes residents said Monday that they witnessed Gray beaten while he was being put in leg irons. "They did not have to beat that boy," said Alethea Booze, 71, who said she was preparing a dinner of turkey wings, mashed potatoes and greens when she heard screaming outside the kind that comes from someone in severe pain. When she and others rushed outside to the corner of Mount and Presbury streets, she said she saw three officers dragging Gray across the sidewalk.

"He was yelling, Tfou're breaking my legs You're breaking my legs!" Booze said. "We were hollering, 'Stop! Call the ambulance! Stop! Call the But they weren't listening." Booze said after the initial interaction near her home, at Mount and Presbury streets, police put Gray in the wagon, drove a block to Mount and Baker streets, and took him back out and starting roughing him up again. Tobias Sellers, Booze's brother, said he was asleep in his own home near Booze's when the altercation began on the corner outside. "The scream was so loud it woke me up and I ran down," he said. Gray was not that big, Sellers said, and the officers appeared to be roughing him up even though he posed no threat Court records show Gray was 5 foot 8 and about 145 pounds.

"Those big police beating on a boy like that. They could have taken him with one hand," he said. Told of the residents' account, Baltimore police spokesman Capt. Eric Kowalczyk disputed it. "There was no indication of any physical assault or any use of force," he said.

"No interviews, no cellphone video, no indication of a use of force." Six officers remain suspended while a task force that includes police's Force Investigation Team, crime lab and homicide detectives finish a report that police plan to present to the state's attorney's office by MayL The officers under investigation include three officers who were on bicycles, the van driver and two other officers. Police say they have all been interviewed. Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mos-by said in a statement Monday that she wanted to "assure the public that my office has dedicated all its existing resources to independendy investigate this matter to determine whether criminal charges will be brought." She encouraged any witnesses to contact her office. Her husband, City Councilman Nick Mosby, represents the area that includes Gilmor Homes and said he wants police to release all information related to Gray's arrest and transport. "As time lapses, it only breeds skepticism and distrust," he said.

"A man lost his life in the custody of folks who are sworn to protect, and who we should be able to trust. No one is saying to do anything to rush to judgment? however, you have to communicate things that the community feels is part of the process. For the folks in West Baltimore, they don't feel they are part of the process." Baltimore City Council President Bernard C. "Jack" Young, whose 29-year-old nephew was shot and killed this month, said people need suspects held accountable for deaths in the community. "We have got to do something," he said.

He added that citizens and police need to take action "to root out the criminal element no matter where it is, in the Police Department or in our community." Some said officers didn't need to detain Gray for running from police. "Nobody should be burying their child because police stopped them in a drug-infested neighborhood," said Tessa Hill-Aston, president of the Baltimore chapter of the NAACP, who was visibly upset while attending a protest. "The whole city is a drug-infested neighborhood." Police, at an afternoon news conference, say they're still investigating why Gray was stopped. Rawlings-Blake said she wanted to dispel any notion that police used the switchblade as a reason for stopping Gray. "We know that having a knife is not necessarily cause," she said.

"It's not necessarily probable cause to chase someone." As people struggled to comprehend how Gray died, demonstrators took out their frustration on police, standing in front of police headquarters and shouting for Batts to come out and address them. A line of uniformed police officers prevented the demonstrators from coming up to the building's entrances. One officer Shantel Bonaparte responded to Joy Walker, who had brought her son and nephew to the demonstration. As her son dribbled a blue basketball, the women engaged in a discussion in which Bonaparte told Walker that she was very much like her when she took off her uniform. The discussion left Bonaparte emotional, irate in the back.

Police stopped the van "so that paperwork can be completed, and at that point Mr. Gray is placed in leg irons and put back in the wagon." Multiple witnesses told The Sun they saw Gray beaten but police say evidence including an autopsy disputes their accounts. 8:54 A.M. The wagon cleared Mount Street heading toward Central Booking. 8:59 A.M.

At Druid Hill Avenue and Dolphin Street, van driver requested an additional unit to drive over and check on Gray in the back. Minutes later, the van was requested at 1600 W. North Ave. to pick up another prisoner. Before the wagon left, there was some communication with Gray.

"And again, we need to asses Mr. Gray's condition, how we responded, were we able to act accordingly," Rodriguez said. The van drove to the Western District police station with both suspects. 9:24 A.M. Medic was called to the Western District police headquarters.

Gray was in serious medical distress. and afterward she shielded her face from the crowd and took another officer's hand. "Every cop is not bad," said Walker. "She's an example of that." Baltimore Sun reporters Justin Fenton, Jessica Anderson and Yvonne Wenger contributed to this article. jgeorgebaltsun.com Twitter.comjustingeorge.